One Man Utd fan tears into all things Red Devils and questions how long the ‘farce’ is going to continue, while there’s some Spurs, Arsenal vs Liverpool, VAR and much more…
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Emery vs Ten Hag
I’ve really enjoyed the manager comparison discussions here but one I’ve not seen is Emery vs Ten Hag. Fancy it?The numbers from when Emery was appointed read €79m net/ 86pts (I think, and thank you f365 for your lovely tables) vs €150m net/79pts and a cup. However, such contrasts are unfair for the many reasons so wonderfully outlined right here.
The difference seems to be in what we can see. One group looks like they’re speaking the same football language, shooting at the same goal, while the other seems to speak at least two and shoot at, well, almost anywhere but the goal.
Perhaps a tactical comparison it’s what’s required and, if you’ll indulge me, let’s do that. (Thanks you tube).
Villa set up as a 442 but the CMs drop deep and the WMs push inside to make a midfield box. This overloads the usual 3 man midfield and gives the AMs space in the channels. If a full back pushes up to cover, one of the CFs pulls wide, taking the CD with him creating a hole for McGinn to exploit. Or one of Villa’s WDs push up (go to 3 at the back) and exploit the space.
The big person, small person up front works well here and gives them the option to use the long passing ability of the GK and CDs to bypass a crowded midfield and punt the ball long so Diaby or the AMs can pick up the knock downs.
And Emery has a host of other tactical variations.
Ten Hag seems to favour 433/451 with a single pivot. Trouble is when your WFs don’t score or cross and the WDs don’t overlap and provide enough either, where’s the creativity coming from? Try and play through a packed midfield from a distant defence hoping Fernandes or McT can do magic only works so often.
Could Ten Hag use Emery’s play book? Maybe, but a key part of it is – the really good – double pivot at Villa.
Unless Casemiro decides he needs to prove to the world he’s still one of the best and Utd get someone in January (would Phillips on loan be insane? Or Palhinha if fup, sorry ffp allows?) then probably not and that’s me out of ideas.
I really should talk about my own team and actually City are not being so functional and boring right now. There’s an imbalance in the squad, too left sided and with holes in midfield. I can’t get closer than 7(seven) towards picking our best 11.
Honestly, if we manage to win the CL again I’ll be very happy. Not least to stop Real and Barca after their transparent, entitled, greedy behaviour with this dangerous ESL nonsense.
What a season so far! Keep it up Prem – keep on showing the rest how desperately they need to foster genuine competition in their own domestic leagues.
Hartley MCFC Somerset (a bit late, but thank you Paul for that mail, in fact all of you for the honesty and intelligence you display here. Inspiring stuff. And Spurs for the title right?)
United Games don’t matter until the senior management changes
Football fans are painfully short sighted. Swayed by one victory or defeat to the next. “But this has been half of a season of ineptitude I hear you say”. Indeed Brother Maynard but I see your half a season and raise you ten years.
My dad text me yesterday, no doubt in yet another fit of rage after another limp, lifeless display from the Red Devils. “We’ve bought loads of players for loads of money. We pay them all loads of money and they’re all rubbish. We’ve got no chance of selling them – this is going to take years to fix!”. The only response I could offer was “well, yeh”.
Since Fergie’s title winning powerhouse that always seemed to be more than the sum of its parts, we’ve seen Moyes, LVG, Mourinho, Solskjaer, Rangnick – and probably Ten Hag now – all struggle to squeeze anything out of numerous squads. A lot of money has been wasted in that time. Our most recent CEO admitted as much and then failed to prevent further, more egregious waste in his short time. It seems that he too caught the Murtough madness.
How can any of those managers – each with completely different styles – take over from each other at a club that has no plan and be given so much money to spend and then be sacked as soon as it looks a bit grim. Forget the doom cycle of this season, United have been stuck in a doom cycle for ten years and counting. And that’s not going to improve until we get someone competent in charge of the football.
John Murtough ought to resign in the new year. Since he became Director of Football (or whatever his job title is) full time, which basically meant that he took over from Ed Woodward so he had a low bar to reach, we have signed:
Antony
Martinez
Casemiro
Malacia
Eriksen
Dubravka
Butland
Weghorst
Sabitzer
Mount
Onana
Hojlund
Amrabat
Bayindir
Evans
Reguilon
United fans will, with some degree of merit claim that Martinez, Casemiro and Eriksen have been successes to some degree but holy shit, it’s not looking good for the rest of them. And ok five of them are loans and a couple are freebies but that makes the scale of the money wastage starker. And this is before considering the handling of De Gea’s contract and the Greenwood saga which Murtough no doubt played a part in.
Murtough should walk, but if Ratcliffe or Brailsford don’t look at the above list and boot him out then there’s no hope for United.
And until there’s hope, why worry about the individual games? It can never get better without the right people calling the shots at the top of the tree .
Ash (Merry Christmas though) Metcalfe
It’s boring now
Seriously, how long is this farce going to continue? All the nonsense talk about Utds injuries being the problem, it’s nonsense as the injuries are in defense barring Casemiro who was hardly pulling up trees at the start.
Add in mount who wasn’t playing and Eriksson who wouldn’t get a regular game for many EPL teams. All the injuries are in defense and in all fairness, conceding goals isn’t a big problem, not being able to create a chance to score IS the problem. Despite Hag having all of his first choice forwards available, Utd going forward are a complete joke.
We dominated the passing and possession stats against the hammers but failed to recognise that those stats were played across the back four. Feckin 3 yard passes back and forth, side to side. When they do look up to play forward there is nothing there, utd are statues or making ridiculous runs that a prime Pirlo wouldn’t be able to find.
So carry on Utd, blame the absence of defenders and just ignore that Hag has had his first choice front 4/5 available all season and they stink up the place. They are not good footballers and anyone saying they are hasn’t a clue what they’re on about.
They’re like that bloke warming up on a Sunday morning, all the tricks doing his keepy ups only for the game to start and he’s totally useless.
But let’s also blame the Glazers, the stadium roof, Gary Neville, Ferguson. Let’s compare Hag to Arteta, Klopp blah blah. It’s embarrassing, 18 months and we play the worse football in the league. Championship sides play better, even Dorking wanderers play more exciting stuff.
When Garnacho came along he was a breath of fresh air, not perfect but gave us something different. Hag has zapped all that out of him, I’m surprised he didn’t sub him after his Everton goal for being too spontaneous.
Antony has been abysmal since day 1, that ain’t changing as he’s just not very good.
Hojlund, it’s just not going to work is it? You all moan about Martial, but what exactly does Hojlund do that’s any different?
Rashford is an atrocious footballer. Just admit it, he got tackled by his tracksuit when he was coming on. Then, because Rashford is such a good bloke, just kicks his kit under a step instead of, ya know, picking it up? It might sound pedantic, but it sums up the attitude of him and the rest. Too good to pick their own kit up? Arrogant, ignorant, disrespectful, they believe their own hype. If they’re great players then every side we play against aren’t world class, they’re universe class. West Ham looked like they could play another game after eating half an orange.
Bruno, hasn’t put in a consistent performance for nearly 2 years, he just isn’t very good ok. But that is Hags front line, his choice of forwards. I don’t know what they’re doing in training apart from blowing smoke up each others backsides and making dumb SM posts.
I feel sorry for Mainoo, there’s a great player there that Hag is going to f**king ruin with his nonsense rules and trusting a nonexistent process. Just what is this process? Anyone? Nah, didn’t think so.
Feck it, happy Christmas, I’m going to watch home alone.
Hugo
Fair game
Everything i could think of saying about Liverpool v Arsenal, and much more, was covered in the ever excellent 16 conclusions.
So I’m just going to recycle a week old, but apt, Jonathan Wilson line: “United are the only club in the world where the death spiral has a holding pattern.”
Aidan, Lfc (fair results all round)
Anfield
Merry Xmas 365
Arsenal performed very well and that was a good result for them.
It’s quite funny hearing Andy from Guatemala exude the exact traits that have seen Arsenal fans show off for 20 years about meaningless accolades such as “top at Xmas”, whilst achieving precisely nothing. Almost as if they’ve suffered collective amnesia as to what happened last season? It’s another big away match where Arsenal played excellently, and did not win.
After the Villa match over a week ago, I wrote in and mentioned that there were three golden rules for Arteta. One of those rules was: “You cannot ever play Zinchenko at left back in a tough away fixture”.
There’s ample evidence of his incompetence: remember at Anfield last season when he let his opposing full-back, TAA, nutmeg him to set up the Firmino equaliser? That nonsense shouldn’t be happening in under 9-s fixtures but Zinchenko managed it!
I asked in summer why Arteta just let Kieran Tierney (who is a far superior defender) go out on loan? So enough “injury” excuses – there was a perfectly competent LB right under Arteta’s nose! The Salah goal was absolutely ridiculous and predictable – just surprised Klopp didn’t use that tactic more. Zinchenko’s “challenge” was a farce. His body positioning all wrong. He wasn’t in the basic space he was supposed to be in (to cut out the TAA long ball over the top) despite having ample time to get there. Physically frail. A truly shambolic, self-harming Liability. He’s cost Arsenal at Anfield for the second successive season, it’s a joke that’s gone on too long. You either play Zinchenko in an advanced midfield role in the big games, or not at all. It’s big game after big game he’s exposed in.
Yet another match where Arsenal’s attackers conspire to miss the unmissable (stand up Martinelli) – it’s just so obvious to the world. Brazilian Steve Bull trying to shoot from an impossible angle when he had an attacker completely free in the box, for a clear goal chance. £200m spent in summer without addressing the gaping hole. Rice, great. The other £100m was wasted.
Oh and now would also be good time to hear from the whining VARSPIRACY Deep State Gooners who told us all that PGMOL had an “agenda” against Arteta after Newcastle. Yep, sure looked that way to me with the Odegaard penalty incident! Will you decry the anti-Liverpool pro-Arsenal conspiracy today? 🤔🙄
Stewie Griffin (Arsenal should just pay the Osimhen release clause and be done with it. Ivan Toney would be a big mistake – £80m for a 27 year-old with no elite level experience? No more crazy Havertz money please)
VAR
Amongst all the things that needs to change with var is the need for var to be able to review a second yellow once it has been given as a 2nd yellow on the pitch. Var only intervenes in goals, penalties and straight red cards as these are deemed (rightly) as match defining events that have to be right. The second yellow is absolutely no different on the effect on the match as a straight red so it must be reviewed. I suppose all that makes complete common sense which is the only reason the PGMOL haven’t implemented it.
Rich, AFC
Isn’t VAR for getting to the right decisions?
So many Everton fans (including in the mailbox) complaining that the Gomes foul on Royal wasn’t a ‘clear and obvious error’ – yet Gomes stood on Royal’s foot with his left foot then clipped his heel with the right foot. Is anybody who has watched that replay really saying that wasn’t a foul?
So the issue is that VAR corrected a mistake by the official that resulted in a goal? Isn’t this precisely what VAR was brought in for? The argument bizarrely has now switched from whether VAR has correctly spotted a foul to whether the foul was a ‘clear and obvious error’ or not… as long as the decision ends up right: live with it.
James, Singapore
This is Manchester United Football Club
Big feels from MUFC supporters in the most recent mailbox. So, in the same spirit, perhaps I should open with honesty: we hates Manchester United, we hates it forever because I started supporting Newcastle in late 1995. I love it when MU fail, and I hate when they succeed. However, I don’t know how I’d even approach football without hating them. They’re eternal villains in the melodrama that football has staged for me over the last quarter century. It kind of gets at how I feel about Sunderland: I love to see them flounder but man, do I miss the derbies. January should be something, and you just know Sunderland is going to be up for the first Tyne-Wear derby in almost eight years. It will appall me, but not entirely surprise me if they nick it late. Anyway, it’s Christmas: good will to all, etc., etc.
Rami, Manchester’s more or less right about MU’s season being the worst in memory. It’s just…a lot of losses (I can relate!). It’s clear that Ten Hag isn’t motivating the squad, but I honestly don’t know who could. I don’t think MU’s transfer team puts much thought into squad dynamics, and they’ve assembled a squad that doesn’t really seem to be close or interested in being close. Or in liking each other at all. That surely must make it harder to be on the same page come match day. I credit Newcastle United’s (admittedly faltering) success largely to the squad unity Howe has fostered. For the most part, I had the impression that Alex Ferguson had different, but evidently more effective ways of keeping the squad pointed in the same direction. Maybe it’s Ten Hag – and he’s clearly failing right now – but I think it has more to do with the squad.
I feel like Jon, Cape Town might be making a similar point, and Calvinho’s ramble may have been tough to follow, but I mostly agreed. ETH’s disciplinary actions could prove to be his undoing. Ideally, he would have brought Ronaldo into line, but given CR’s behavior, I thought Ten Hag was merciful, respectful and effective as a leader. But he mishandled Jaden Sancho badly, imo. Maybe I’m projecting, but Sancho seems to require a father figure, authoritative perhaps, but encouraging. I think ETH could have provided that and he didn’t; the squad was left weakened, and the player may be ruined. I mean, as a player. He’s obviously not going to be financially ruined, lol.
Kay (Depressed United fan)’s mail made me grit my teeth a little, though. A great many Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal supporters – and Chelsea supporters outside England – all share the same affliction. A period of great success seems to breed the irrational, even greedy, expectation that success must be repeated frequently and indefinitely, and that seems to take a lot of the joy out of it for those guys. Even during their slow fall, Manchester United have collected a ton of trophies, for goodness’ sake. The rest of the clubs in the EPL and FA are looking over your shoulders, and most of them have won nothing much in decades. The condition hasn’t actually yet affected my Man City-supporting friends, but I worry about the day I start expecting my club to win so much that I’m angry if it doesn’t. (Btw, congratulations on that performance, Luton Town! Absolutely an earned win.)
Anyway, I wish y’all a Merry Christmas and a Happy one. Even the mancs and m*ckems.
Chris C, Toon Army DC
Season review in Guardian
Hi F365,
In yesterday’s Guardian, they had a fan from each team reviewing the season so far, and pretty much universally laying into VAR.
No cracker joke, no festive comedy, not even the Muppets Christmas Carol itself will make me laugh more than the Manchester United fan who apparently thinks they will finish fourth this year.
Merry Christmas to F365 writers and readers!
Kind regards
Sam
Spurs thoughts from an Arsenal friend
A generous work friend invited me (an ardent Arsenal fan) to Spurs vs Everton, here are some thoughts on the day;
– the stadium really is very impressive, taken lots of good bits from similar ones and just made it an excellent experience
– that said the atmosphere was quite flat even with the early goals.
– As my friend said on a visit to the club shop (Xmas presents needed for my nephews), spurs can probably pay Son any wage and still make a profit on the merchandise sold to his supporters.
– that club shop is massive!
– considering the injuries, spurs played well against an in form team and got the win.
– but my word are they open, I think I’d have a heart attack if I saw them play every week! I’m all for positive attacking play but ending with 3vs2 attack against you in the closing minutes when winning 2 – 1 is some kind of madness!
– Emerson Royal played well, probably my man of the match, I’ve never quite understood the stick he gets from some fans – a pretty reliable modern full back.
– Son, despite scoring had a poor game.
– Spurs have a positive future to look forward to in my view – just need to do something about that in game atmosphere….
– Everton will be similarly fine, providing they don’t play Danjuma too often that is (wrong decision or poor implementation at pretty much every touch of the ball).
All in an enjoyable day despite my bias.
Mark (Happy with the Arsenal result, Sailba really is a special player – keep him, Rice and Gabriel fit and we win the league)
Tottenham vs Everton
Bit late with my follow up on Spurs (underserved?) win against the Toffees. But I knew there’d be an email on their disallowed goal and I have to say, it was, eventually, the right call. I’m insanely objective when it comes to my team – I lost the feeling of patriotic tribalism many years ago – so when something goes for/against us, I judge it as a neutral.
The Everton players’ knee goes into Emerson’s leg with decent force before he’s anywhere near the ball. Even with less force, he’s played the man before the ball. All this ‘soft’ talk I read in the analysis is absolute garbage. I’d be more than okay, even expectant, that the same call was made if we scored a goal in those circumstances.
The focus is then on the lino. Why didn’t he wave his flag? Who cares. It was a foul. Clear and obvious. Not everything gets spotted at the time. That’s why VAR is there. As shit as it generally is.
Our passing at the back was atrocious. That couldn’t be avoided with the personnel available but a little more composure in midfield would have helped. Why Skipp over Lo Celso? Strange one for me. Still, decent win against the blues who I recently commented were looking like a very good team in a recent mailbox musing.
Anyway, the real reason I wanted to write in is to comment on Chelsea. The Villa and West Ham losses are the ones that really wrangled with me. You know the type, the ones where you stare at the table and take their 3 respective points away, add the 6 you should have had and picture yourself 2 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the tree? Yeah, so anyway, as time has gone on, the Chelsea result has pissed me off more. I don’t care we had 8 players sent off, 24 injuries and 3 managerial changes in that game. How did we lose to them?! They are awful. They’ve spent £427 billion, hired a Spurs legend and are still plain terrible. I don’t get how they can be so bad?
United get so much more heat than Chelsea but I’m confused as to why. Chelsea have spent loads more and are, somehow, still a lot worse. What’s the crack?
Merry Christmas ya filthy mailbox animals!
Glen, Stratford Spur
Jurgen Klopp
I am sure that Klopp and Liverpool as a whole will be devastated to learn that someone who is not a fan, and doesn’t have the balls to provide their own name in an email to a football website, no longer likes him for doing the sort of things that all successful football managers do to one degree or another.
Matt D, London
Chelsea
I give up with them at this point.
They truly are the worst “team” I think I’ve ever seen.
Not a single player is good enough.
The manager doesn’t have a clue.
And don’t even get me started on the owner.
How on earth do you spend £1b and manage to destroy a football club?!
Anyway. Merry Xmas.
James. CFC. Gravesend.
Chelsea there with a lovely early christmas present for all of us.
TGWolf(but most of all for us Spurs fans)THFC
Gomez vs Hojlund
Lately I have been hearing from commentators about how Gomez has never scored for Liverpool. With Holjund also on a goal drought in the PL I am quite curious to see who will strike first of the two, if ever.
Philip